Whenever I return to my hometown of Naperville, Illinois, for school breaks, I find myself digging through old boxes of things in my bedroom.

By far the largest box is filled to the brim with notebooks and journals, some half full attempts at writing a poetry book, some with pages muddled with middle school musings and a few reserved for angsty rants when I couldn’t sleep.

Writing was always an important part of me growing up. When the world seemed like too much or I had no one to talk to, I found myself drawn to a pen and paper to figure out the nonsense that goes on in life. 

English classes were always my strong suit. I loved being assigned essays for homework assignments and reading works by Shakespeare. I even dabbled in spoken word poetry, performing monologues I wrote myself at my high school. 

As high school went on and I got older, the realization of deciding what I wanted to do in college slowly became more apparent. I knew that I could not stand a job where I did the same thing everyday in a cubicle, but I also wanted a realistic chance of being employed.

I can’t remember what exactly pushed me to do it, but I applied for my high school’s newspaper staff my junior year. I knew I loved writing, and my really good friend was also applying, and it seemed like something fun to do. 

It was one of those decisions that if I had chosen differently, my life would be completely different than it is today.

I learned how to use my love for writing in a way that also filled my need to be serving others. I loved working with editors and designers, learning how to interview and tell the world about what was going on in our small little high school bubble.

That’s when it hit me.

Storytelling.

My love for words and others manifested itself in a love of storytelling and service, and therefore led me to the world of journalism. I discovered being a journalist allowed me to be creative yet logical, and gave me a sense of purpose: to help educate my community and tell stories that may otherwise go untold.

That discovery led me to be co-editor-in-chief of my high school paper my junior year, quickly moving up from my reporting position, and to attending Iowa State for journalism and mass communication within the Greenlee School. 

Even before I walked into the doors of Hamilton Hall, I walked into the doors of the Iowa State Daily newsroom located on Lincoln Way. I remember walking in with my tail between my legs, hands shaking. 

As soon as training started and I started meeting all these experienced editors and reporters, I knew that I wanted to be like them. The Iowa State Daily welcomed me with open arms, and I was thrown into a beat that I didn’t know much about, but ending up loving. 

Throughout my time on staff, I have been a reporter. I reported on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Throughout my time in that position, I reported on the impact of differential tuition, told stories of students who go home to farm on the weekends as a second or third job and even pet a tarantula while discovering Iowa State’s Insect Zoo.

As a sophomore, I was the news editor of academics, and helped lead others in beat reporting on the academic colleges at Iowa State. Here is where I learned my love for editing and working with others. I discovered I loved seeing my reporters bylines on front pages rather than my own. This position was like a crash course on everything Iowa State, and I learned just how much amazing work goes on behind the scenes at our university. 

The Iowa State Daily prepared me for an internship with the Carroll Times Herald in Carroll, Iowa that I completed this past summer. I would not have been able to have that amazing opportunity without the experience I gained within the walls of the Iowa State Daily newsroom, and it prepared me more than any class ever has.

I interviewed Democratic presidential candidates, covered a large chunk of western Iowa and learned from industry professionals the ins and outs of local journalism. I saw just how important small town reporting is, and the tough times family owned papers are facing nowadays. 

After the Iowa State Daily had given me so much, I wanted to give back, and that is why I applied for the position of editor-in-chief. The experience I have had throughout my time at this organization is invaluable, and I wanted to insure that amazing experience for everyone who walked through our newsroom doors. 

All of these experiences have made me a better journalist, writer, editor and young professional, but more importantly they have made me a better leader, friend, coworker and person. The Daily has given me real world experience and a second family, and given me a home that is five hours away from my real one. 

It was a winding road to get to where I am today, filled with a lot of unknowns, self-doubt and nerves, and everyone who works at the Daily has a different experience of how they got to where they are today. Some people came in knowing exactly what they wanted to do, and others had more of a winding path.

But that is what makes us so great as a staff: our different experiences and perspectives on life.

That is why I encourage you to join our staff, whether that be in visuals, digital, reporting, editing or designing. We need people from all backgrounds with all different perspectives to help make sure we are covering everything in holistic and fair ways. Newsrooms help create public discussion, and to create that we need to have productive discussions and debates within our own newsroom walls.

It’s no hyperbole to say that the Iowa State Daily changed my life, so I encourage you to see how it can change yours.

If interested, please email me at [email protected] or Mark Witherspoon, our editorial adviser, at [email protected]